(Reuters) – Netflix (NASDAQ:) said on Saturday that 60 million households worldwide had tuned in for the highly anticipated boxing match between Jake Paul and Mike Tyson, and the event peaked at 65 million streams, according to a statement. The bout between the 27-year-old social media influencer-turned-prize fighter Paul and the 58-year-old former heavyweight champion Tyson, which Paul won, was streamed live on Netflix. Nearly 50 million households tuned in for the co-main event between Ireland’s lightweight champion Katie Taylor and Puerto Rico’s featherweight champion Amanda Serrano, according to Netflix. “The bout is likely to be the most watched professional women’s sporting event in US history,” Netflix said in its statement. There were some hiccups during the live-stream of the match, with over 90,000 users reporting problems on Netflix at its peak, according to outage tracking website Downdetector. However, the streaming platform was back up on Saturday after the outage that lasted roughly 6 hours in the United States. (This story has been corrected to say 60 million, not 50 million, in the headline) !function(f,b,e,v,n,t,s){if(f.fbq)return;n=f.fbq=function(){n.callMethod? n.callMethod.apply(n,arguments):n.queue.push(arguments)};if(!f._fbq)f._fbq=n;n.push=n;n.loaded=!0;n.version='2.0';n.queue=[];t=b.createElement(e);t.async=!0;t.src=v;s=b.getElementsByTagName(e)[0];s.parentNode.insertBefore(t,s)}(window, document,'script','https://connect.facebook.net/en_US/fbevents.js'); Source link The post Netflix says 60 million households worldwide tuned in for Paul-Tyson match By Reuters first appeared on Forex Trader Hub.

NZD/USD pair traded volatile during Friday’s session, clearing all of its daily gains. Pair initially soared to a high around 0.5970 near the 20-day SMA before erasing all the gains towards 0.5850. The RSI signaled that buying pressure recovered as it neared the oversold area with a rise in slope. The NZD/USD saw a volatile session on Friday, initially soaring to a high around 0.5970 near the 20-day Simple Moving Average (SMA) before erasing all the gains towards 0.5850. The pair mildly rose to 0.5855, indicating that the bulls have limited power and that the bears continue in command but a correction is on the horizon as indicators are near oversold levels. The technical indicators currently depict a mixed outlook for the NZD/USD pair. The Relative Strength Index (RSI) suggests that buying pressure is recovering as it is approaching the oversold area and its slope is rising sharply. Conversely, the Moving Average Convergence Divergence (MACD) indicates that selling pressure is flat, as evidenced by the flat and red histogram. Despite these conflicting signals, the overall outlook remains tilted in favor of the bears. Support levels can be found at 0.5900, 0.5850, and 0.5800, while resistance levels lie at 0.5950, 0.6000, and 0.6050. NZD/USD daily chart Source link The post Pair saw a volatile session, high near 20-day SMA then retreated first appeared on Forex Trader Hub.

Top Stories of The Week Bitcoin will not fall to $60K with no ‘threats in the near-term’ — Michael Saylor MicroStrategy founder and Bitcoin bull Michael Saylor has ruled out the chances of Bitcoin retracing to $60,000 — a crucial price level for the majority of 2024. “I don’t think it is going to $60,000, it is not going to $30,000, I think it is going to go up from here,” Saylor told CNBC on Nov. 14. Bitcoin is trading around $87,790, according to CoinMarketCap. He said Donald Trump’s win “very decidedly” settled the future of crypto and Bitcoin in the United States, adding, “I don’t really see any threats on the near-term horizon.” “I’m planning the $100,000 party,” Saylor said. “I’m thinking it’s probably going to be New Year’s Eve at my house, so I would be surprised if we don’t go through $100,000 in November or December.”  NY prosecutor suggests office will scale back crypto cases A prosecutor with the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York (SDNY) has suggested that authorities are devoting fewer resources to bringing cases involving cryptocurrency-related crimes. Speaking at the Practicing Law Institute’s 56th Annual Institute on Securities Regulation on Nov. 15, Scott Hartman reportedly said there would not be “as much crypto stuff coming out of at least the SDNY in the future.” Hartman, the co-chief of the Securities and Commodities Fraud Task Force at SDNY, hinted that many of its criminal cases against high-profile executives like former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried were filed in response to the crypto market downturn of 2022. “We brought a lot of big cases in the wake of the crypto winter,” said Hartman. “There were a lot of important fraud cases to bring there, but we know our regulatory partners are very active in this space.” Bitcoin to hit ‘repeated all-time highs’ over next 2 quarters: VanEck Bitcoin’s record-breaking rise since the United States elections is expected to continue, and investment manager and fund issuer VanEck is targeting a price of $180,000 for sometime next year. “It is just getting started,” VanEck’s head of digital assets research, Matthew Sigel, told CNBC’s Squawk Box on Nov. 14. “We’re now in blue sky territory, no technical resistance, and we think we are likely to make repeated all-time highs over the next two quarters,” he added. Bitcoin has risen about 30% since Nov. 5, leading a wider crypto rally after the pro-crypto Donald Trump was elected president. It’s continued to reach new highs, with its current peak set on Nov. 13, hitting almost $93,490, per TradingView. Bitcoin’s rally has slightly cooled as of Nov. 15, with it trading around $88,100. Dogecoin investor lawsuit against Elon Musk dropped A 2022 class-action lawsuit filed against Elon Musk and Tesla — alleging that the businessman manipulated the price of Dogecoin through media appearances and social media posts — was withdrawn by the plaintiffs on Nov. 14, 2024. According to the legal filing, the plaintiffs have agreed to withdraw their appeal from the Second Circuit Court of Appeals and not seek any post-judgment relief from Musk and the automotive company. Lawyers for the investors also waived their right to appeal the case in any United States court, and both sides have agreed to drop motions to sanction the other side over the lawsuit. The motion to withdraw the class-action lawsuit must still be approved by United States District Judge Alvin K. Hellerstein before the two-year-old litigation officially concludes. Bitcoin ETF options pass ‘second hurdle’ with CFTC clearance The United States Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) has issued a notice, “clearing the way” for spot Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) options. Analysts are now speculating the products could be listed imminently. “Ball now in OCC’s court, and they are into it, so they’ll prob list very soon,” ETF analyst Eric Balchunas wrote in a Nov. 15 X post. “Here. We. Go,” ETF analyst James Seyffart added. The CFTC’s Nov. 16 statement announced the Division of Clearing and Risk’s position “that the CFTC does not have any more role regarding the clearing of these options.” “These ETF options are cleared and settled by the Options Clearing Corporation as the sole issuer of all equity options,” it stated. Crypto executives are optimistic it could have a major impact on Bitcoin’s price. Winners and Losers At the end of the week, Bitcoin (BTC) is at $91,274, Ether (ETH) at $3,097 and XRP at $0.90. The total market cap is at $3.02 trillion, according to CoinMarketCap. Among the biggest 100 cryptocurrencies, the top three altcoin gainers of the week are Peanut the Squirrel (PNUT) at 1,826.99%, Pepe (PEPE) at 106.64% and Bonk (BONK) at 104.43%. The top three altcoin losers of the week are Monero (XMR) at 14.37%, Aave (AAVE) at 9.03% and Celestia (TIA) at 7.56%. For more info on crypto prices, make sure to read Cointelegraph’s market analysis. Most Memorable Quotations “We’ve been living in a gas-lit world for a long time, generously gas-lit by the SEC.” Joseph Lubin, CEO of Consensys “I look forward to Elon and Vivek making changes to the Federal Bureaucracy with an eye on efficiency and, at the same time, making life better for all Americans.” Donald Trump, United States President-elect “We’re now in blue sky territory, no technical resistance, and we think we are likely to make repeated all-time highs over the next two quarters.” Matthew Sigel, head of digital assets research at VanEck “I think it would be very smart for the United States to take the Bitcoin it has, maybe add some to it, and say we want to show the world that we’re going to be a technology-first country — a crypto, a digital asset-first country. I don’t necessarily think the dollar needs anything to back it up.” Mike Novogratz, founder of Galaxy Digital “After being a laggard for most of this cycle Ethereum is starting to catch a bid.” Rachael Lucas, crypto analyst at BTC Markets “We look forward to standing up for ourselves and our community and continuing to help everyday people understand important world events.” Polymarket spokesperson Prediction of The Week Bitcoin price can hit $100K by Thanksgiving if bulls hold key level Keith Alan, co-founder of trading resource Material Indicators, said that a return to the mid-$80,000 range might ultimately be cathartic for BTC price strength. “A retest of support at $86k would be healthy for $BTC, and it will give us some insight as to whether the velocity of this “TrumpPump can be sustained for a soonish run at $100k or if momentum is going to cool off for more than 5 minutes,” he told X followers. Later, Alan suggested that Bitcoin could hit its ultimate psychological target — $100,000 — as soon as the Thanksgiving holiday on Nov. 28. To do so, however, it needed to preserve a rising short-term trend line. “If support fails at the line, price will search for support in the $75k – $76k range,” he warned. FUD of The Week Helix mixer operator gets 3 years in prison for money laundering Larry Harmon, who was arrested in 2020 for helping criminals launder money through the Helix cryptocurrency mixer, has been sentenced to three years in prison. The sentence was a show of leniency due to his assistance in the Bitcoin Fog mixer case, District of Columbia District Court Judge Beryl Howell said. Read also Features Before NFTs: Surging interest in pre-CryptoPunk collectibles Art Week Immutable Trash: Crypto Art Revisits Arguments on Censorship and Meaning Harmon faced a sentence of up to 20 years for the charges against him. The government had recommended a sentence of 75 months on Nov. 11. Harmon was fined $60 million by the Treasury Department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network in 2020. Harmon helped prosecutors in the case against Bitcoin Fog operator Roman Sterlingov, who was sentenced to 12.5 years in prison on Nov. 8. Harmon expressed remorse at his sentencing. He had also shut down Helix two years before his arrest, the judge noted while passing sentence on him. “He turned himself around before he was arrested in this case,” she said. Harmon was also ordered to forfeit roughly $311 million in cash and “seized cryptocurrencies, real estate, and monetary assets valued at over $400 million.” South Korea probes Upbit for 600K KYC violations Major South Korean cryptocurrency exchange Upbit is reportedly suspected of massive breaches in Know Your Customer (KYC) procedures amid its local license renewal. South Korea’s Financial Intelligence Unit of the Financial Services Commission has identified at least 500,000 to 600,000 potential KYC violations by the Upbit exchange, local news agency Maeil Business Newspaper reported on Nov. 14. The authority reportedly spotted alleged customer verification breaches while reviewing the renewal of Upbit’s business license, potentially affecting the exchange’s operations. Read also Features Tornado Cash 2.0: The race to build safe and legal coin mixers Features Slumdog billionaire: Incredible rags-to-riches tale of Polygon’s Sandeep Nailwal In South Korea, cryptocurrency exchanges or virtual asset service providers are obligated to establish strict KYC procedures. Bitfinex hacker sentenced to 5 years in prison Ilya Lichtenstein, the hacker who stole billions worth of Bitcoin from the crypto exchange Bitfinex in 2016, was sentenced to five years in prison. Washington, DC, District Court Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly sentenced Lichtenstein in a Nov. 14 hearing after he pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit money laundering in August 2023. In addition to jail time, Lichtenstein was ordered to serve three years of supervised release. Lichtenstein was facing up to 20 years in jail, but prosecutors had recommended he serve five years as he had no prior criminal history, gave “substantial assistance” in other investigations and managed to launder only 25,111 Bitcoin out of the 119,754 BTC he stole from Bitfinex, currently worth over $10.4 billion with the cryptocurrency priced around $87,500. Top Magazine Stories of The Week Off The Grid’s success shows ‘invisible’ blockchain is the winning play Off The Grid brings much-needed momentum to Web3 games, but the secret to its success may be its invisible reliance on blockchain. Legal issues surround the FBI’s creation of fake crypto tokens Novel tokens launched by the FBI and AI agents raise more questions. Our panel of crypto lawyers discusses what’s legal and who bears legal liability. Crypto spy jailed for life in China, YouTuber accused of $230M fraud: Asia Express Chinese official jailed for selling secrets for crypto, WazirX fake account suspect nabbed, S. Korean YouTube finfluencer arrested for scam, and more. Subscribe The most engaging reads in blockchain. Delivered once a week. Editorial Staff Cointelegraph Magazine writers and reporters contributed to this article. Source link The post Hodler’s Digest, Nov. 10 – 16 – Cointelegraph Magazine first appeared on Forex Trader Hub.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – President-elect Donald Trump said on Saturday that oil and gas industry executive Chris Wright, a staunch defender of fossil fuel use, would be his pick to lead the Department of Energy. Wright is the founder and CEO of Liberty Energy, an oilfield services firm based in Denver. He is expected to support Trump’s plan to maximize production of oil and gas and to seek ways to boost generation of electricity, demand for which is rising for the first time in decades. He is also likely to share Trump’s opposition to global cooperation on fighting climate change. Wright has called climate change activists alarmist and has likened efforts by Democrats to combat global warming to Soviet-style communism. “There is no climate crisis, and we’re not in the midst of an energy transition, either,” Wright said in a video posted to his LinkedIn profile last year. Wright, who does not have any political experience, has written extensively on the need for more fossil fuel production to lift people out of poverty. He has stood out among oil and gas executives for his freewheeling style, and describes himself as a tech nerd. Wright made a media splash in 2019 when he drank fracking fluid on camera to demonstrate it was not dangerous. U.S. oil output hit the highest level any country has ever produced under Biden, and it is uncertain how much Wright and the incoming administration could boost that. Most drilling decisions are driven by private companies working on land not owned by the federal government. The Department of Energy handles U.S. energy diplomacy, administers the Strategic Petroleum Reserve – which Trump has said he wants to replenish – and runs grant and loan programs to advance energy technologies, such as the Loan Programs Office. The secretary also oversees the aging U.S. nuclear weapons complex, nuclear energy waste disposal, and 17 national labs. If confirmed by the Senate, Wright will replace Jennifer Granholm, a supporter of electric vehicles, emerging energy sources like geothermal power and a backer of carbon-free wind, solar and nuclear energy. Wright will also likely be involved in permitting of electricity transmission and the expansion of nuclear power, an energy source that is popular with both Republicans and Democrats but which is expensive and complicated to permit. Power demand in the United States is surging for the first time in two decades amid growth in artificial intelligence, electric vehicles and cryptocurrencies. !function(f,b,e,v,n,t,s){if(f.fbq)return;n=f.fbq=function(){n.callMethod? n.callMethod.apply(n,arguments):n.queue.push(arguments)};if(!f._fbq)f._fbq=n;n.push=n;n.loaded=!0;n.version='2.0';n.queue=[];t=b.createElement(e);t.async=!0;t.src=v;s=b.getElementsByTagName(e)[0];s.parentNode.insertBefore(t,s)}(window, document,'script','https://connect.facebook.net/en_US/fbevents.js'); Source link The post Trump picks oil industry CEO Chris Wright as Energy Secretary By Reuters first appeared on Forex Trader Hub.

By Jonathan Stempel NEW YORK (Reuters) -Bill Hwang, the founder of Archegos Capital Management, should spend 21 years in prison for running a market manipulation scheme that wiped out his $36 billion firm and cost its lenders more than $10 billion, federal prosecutors said on Friday. In a late night court filing, prosecutors from the U.S. Attorney’s office in Manhattan also asked that Hwang be subjected to a $12.35 billion forfeiture and to pay restitution to victims at his scheduled sentencing on Wednesday. A 21-year term would be unusually long for a U.S. white-collar crime case, and just four years shorter than FTX cryptocurrency exchange founder Sam Bankman-Fried received in March after being convicted of stealing billions of dollars from customers. Prosecutors called Hwang an “unrepentant recidivist” who appears to have “judged himself blameless.” They cited a 2012 guilty plea to wire fraud by Hwang’s former hedge fund Tiger Asia Management, and a Nov. 8 request by Hwang’s lawyers that their 60-year-old client spend no time in prison for his activities at Archegos. “Bill Hwang used his personal hedge fund to commit a fraud that altered the American stock market and visited billions of dollars in losses on his trading counterparties,” prosecutors said. “He pursued that fraud even after previously being ordered not to commit securities fraud. And even now he has no remorse.” A significant sentence, prosecutors added, would “signal to even the most hubristic investors that their grand schemes will be met with serious sentences.” Lawyers for Hwang did not immediately respond to requests for comment outside business hours. Hwang was convicted in July on 10 criminal charges including securities and wire fraud and racketeering conspiracy. Prosecutors accused him of lying to banks about Archegos’ portfolio so he could borrow money aggressively and make concentrated bets on media and technology stocks such as ViacomCBS (NASDAQ:), through so-called total return swaps. Hwang amassed $160 billion of exposure to stocks but could not meet margin calls as prices began falling. This led to Archegos’ demise in March 2021 and caused big losses for banks such as Credit Suisse, now part of UBS, and Nomura Holdings (NYSE:) as various banks unloaded stocks backing Hwang’s swaps. Hwang did not testify at his two-month trial. He is expected to appeal his conviction. In requesting that he serve no prison time, Hwang’s lawyers said prosecutors did not and could not prove that Hwang’s alleged lies caused losses for banks. They said Hwang’s age, cardiovascular disease, philanthropy and low risk of recidivism also weighed against putting him behind bars. Hwang’s co-defendant, former Archegos Chief Financial Officer Patrick Halligan, was convicted at the same trial on three criminal charges. His sentencing is scheduled for Jan. 27. !function(f,b,e,v,n,t,s){if(f.fbq)return;n=f.fbq=function(){n.callMethod? n.callMethod.apply(n,arguments):n.queue.push(arguments)};if(!f._fbq)f._fbq=n;n.push=n;n.loaded=!0;n.version='2.0';n.queue=[];t=b.createElement(e);t.async=!0;t.src=v;s=b.getElementsByTagName(e)[0];s.parentNode.insertBefore(t,s)}(window, document,'script','https://connect.facebook.net/en_US/fbevents.js'); Source link The post Archegos’ Bill Hwang deserves 21 years in prison, US says By Reuters first appeared on Forex Trader Hub.

LONDON (Reuters) – British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said on Saturday he would defend decisions taken in his new Labour government’s first budget “all day long”, while farmers protested over changes to inheritance tax. Addressing the Welsh Labour Conference in Llandudno, north Wales, Starmer did not refer to the farmers’ complaints directly, but he said he stood by the decisions made in finance minister Rachel Reeves’ Oct. 30 budget statement. “Make no mistake, I will defend our decisions in the budget all day long,” he said. “I will defend facing up to the harsh light of fiscal reality, I will defend the tough decisions that were necessary to stabilise our economy.” While Starmer spoke, hundreds of farmers protested outside the conference venue over a budget measure that will mean more of them having to pay inheritance tax. They have warned that the move will threaten the viability of farms, make produce more expensive and threaten food security. Farmers plan a major protest in London on Nov. 19. UK businesses have also warned that increased employment taxes and a rise in the minimum wage from the budget will stoke inflation and have a negative impact on investment and jobs. !function(f,b,e,v,n,t,s){if(f.fbq)return;n=f.fbq=function(){n.callMethod? n.callMethod.apply(n,arguments):n.queue.push(arguments)};if(!f._fbq)f._fbq=n;n.push=n;n.loaded=!0;n.version='2.0';n.queue=[];t=b.createElement(e);t.async=!0;t.src=v;s=b.getElementsByTagName(e)[0];s.parentNode.insertBefore(t,s)}(window, document,'script','https://connect.facebook.net/en_US/fbevents.js'); Source link The post While farmers protest, UK’s Starmer says will defend budget ‘all day long’ By Reuters first appeared on Forex Trader Hub.

By Vladimir Soldatkin and Guy Faulconbridge MOSCOW (Reuters) -Russian gas giant Gazprom (MCX:) continued to pump steady volumes of gas to Europe via Ukraine on Saturday, but supplies to Austrian energy company OMV were halted hours after Vienna said Russia had given notice it would cut off flows. Russia, which before the Ukraine war was the biggest single supplier of to Europe, has lost almost all of its European customers as the EU tried to reduce its dependence and the Nord Stream gas pipeline to Germany was blown up in 2022. Now one of the last main Russian gas routes to Europe – the Soviet-era Urengoy-Pomary-Uzhgorod pipeline via Ukraine – is due to shut down at the end of this year as Kyiv does not want to extend a five-year transit agreement which brings northern Siberian gas to Slovakia, the Czech Republic and Austria. Austria said on Friday that Moscow had informed it that the gas would be shut off from Saturday following an arbitration award to OMV, Austria’s biggest energy supplier, over unfulfilled Gazprom supplies to its German unit. On Saturday, Austria’s energy regulator E-Control said Gazprom’s deliveries to OMV had stopped at 6 a.m. local time (0500 GMT), adding that prices and supplies to Austrian customers were steady. OMV is seeking to recover the 230 million euro damages awarded during arbitration from Gazprom by off-setting the claim against invoices for deliveries to Austria – essentially stopping some payment for gas supplied via Ukraine. Gazprom said it would send 42.4 million cubic metres of gas to Europe via Ukraine on Saturday, the same volume as on Friday. Flows into Slovakia from Ukraine were stable but nominations for flows to Austria from Slovakia were around 16% below averages seen this month, data from transmission system operator Eustream showed. OMV usually accounts for around 40% of Russian gas flows via Ukraine, or some 17 mcm per day. Chancellor Olaf Scholz spoke to President Vladimir Putin on Friday for the first time in nearly two years, as European leaders wait to hear Donald Trump’s ideas on ending the biggest land war in Europe since World War Two. GAS POLITICS According to the Kremlin, Putin told Scholz that Russia had always fulfilled its contractual obligations for energy supplies and was “ready for mutually beneficial cooperation if the German side shows interest in this”. Soviet and post-Soviet leaders spent half a century from the discovery of major Siberian gas deposits in the post-WW2 years building up an energy business which linked the Soviet Union, then Russia, and Germany, by far Europe’s biggest economy. War, and explosions, have destroyed that link, damaging the economies of both countries. At its peak, Russia was supplying 35% of Europe’s gas but since the 2022 war, Gazprom’s market share has been lost to Norway, the United States and Qatar. The Yamal-Europe pipeline via Belarus was closed down after a dispute while Russia blamed the United States and Britain for the mysterious explosions under the Baltic Sea that closed the Nord Stream route. Washington and London have denied they blew up the pipelines. The Wall Street Journal has reported Ukrainian officials were behind the attack. Kyiv has denied that. Without Austria, significant Russian supplies will only go to two European countries – Hungary and Slovakia, in Hungary’s case via a pipeline running mostly through Turkey. Russia shipped some 15 billion cubic metres of gas via Ukraine in 2023, about 8% of peak Russian gas flows to Europe via various routes in 2018-2019, according to data compiled by Reuters. In 2023, the Ukraine transit route met 65% of gas demand in Austria and its eastern neighbours Hungary and Slovakia, according to the International Energy Agency. !function(f,b,e,v,n,t,s){if(f.fbq)return;n=f.fbq=function(){n.callMethod? n.callMethod.apply(n,arguments):n.queue.push(arguments)};if(!f._fbq)f._fbq=n;n.push=n;n.loaded=!0;n.version='2.0';n.queue=[];t=b.createElement(e);t.async=!0;t.src=v;s=b.getElementsByTagName(e)[0];s.parentNode.insertBefore(t,s)}(window, document,'script','https://connect.facebook.net/en_US/fbevents.js'); Source link The post Russia pumping gas via Ukraine but volumes to Austria cut By Reuters first appeared on Forex Trader Hub.

(Reuters) – A Southwest Airlines (NYSE:) plane preparing for departure at Dallas Love Field airport was struck by a bullet late on late Friday, prompting the aircraft to return to the gate, the airline said in a statement. “Southwest Airlines Flight 2494 was set to depart for Indianapolis when a bullet apparently struck the right side of the plane, just below the flight deck, as the crew was preparing for takeoff,” a Southwest spokesperson said. “No injuries were reported. Law enforcement authorities have been notified and the plane has been removed from service.” The plane was preparing for departure from Dallas to Indianapolis. Dallas Love Field Airport said the security incident occurred at around 9:50 p.m. local time and prompted a response from Dallas police and Dallas Fire-Rescue. Passengers were safely deplaned after the aircraft sustained damage, the airport said in a statement without identifying the airline. Further details about the source of the bullet or the circumstances of the incident were not immediately available. !function(f,b,e,v,n,t,s){if(f.fbq)return;n=f.fbq=function(){n.callMethod? n.callMethod.apply(n,arguments):n.queue.push(arguments)};if(!f._fbq)f._fbq=n;n.push=n;n.loaded=!0;n.version='2.0';n.queue=[];t=b.createElement(e);t.async=!0;t.src=v;s=b.getElementsByTagName(e)[0];s.parentNode.insertBefore(t,s)}(window, document,'script','https://connect.facebook.net/en_US/fbevents.js'); Source link The post Southwest Airlines plane struck by bullet before departure in Dallas By Reuters first appeared on Forex Trader Hub.

(Reuters) – Netflix (NASDAQ:) was down for thousands of users in the U.S. late on Friday, according outage tracking website Downdetector.com. There were more than 12,000 incidents of people reporting issues with the platform, according to Downdetector, which tracks outages by collating status reports from a number of sources. !function(f,b,e,v,n,t,s){if(f.fbq)return;n=f.fbq=function(){n.callMethod? n.callMethod.apply(n,arguments):n.queue.push(arguments)};if(!f._fbq)f._fbq=n;n.push=n;n.loaded=!0;n.version='2.0';n.queue=[];t=b.createElement(e);t.async=!0;t.src=v;s=b.getElementsByTagName(e)[0];s.parentNode.insertBefore(t,s)}(window, document,'script','https://connect.facebook.net/en_US/fbevents.js'); Source link The post Netflix down for thousands of users in US, Downdetector says By Reuters first appeared on Forex Trader Hub.

GBP/USD Price Forecast: Stumbles on soft UK data, bears target 1.2600 The Pound Sterling extends its agony and printing losses for the sixth straight day against the Greenback. Soft UK GDP coupled with robust US Retail Sales figures boosted the US Dollar and weighed on GBP/USD, which trades at 1.2636, down 0.22%. Read More… GBP/USD resumes downside bias after release of US Retail Sales GBP/USD edges lower on Friday, falling to the 1.2660s as markets digest the latest data release, US Retail Sales in October, and its positive implications for the US Dollar (USD). Read More… GBP/USD holds ground above 1.2650 following mixed UK data, US Retail sales eyed GBP/USD breaks its five-day losing streak, trading around 1.2680 during the early European session on Friday. The pair remains steady after the release of mixed Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and Industrial data from the United Kingdom (UK). Read More…     Source link The post GBP/USD stumbles on soft UK data, bears target 1.2600 first appeared on Forex Trader Hub.

The Ethena Foundation signed off on Wintermute’s proposal to share a portion of the decentralized finance (DeFi) protocol’s revenues with tokenholders, according to Wintermute’s governance forum. On Nov. 6, Wintermute, a cryptocurrency market maker, proposed allocating a portion of Ethena’s fee revenue to stakers of ENA (ENA), Ethena’s native token. “The Ethena Foundation is pleased to share that the proposal to enable an $ENA fee switch has been approved by the Risk Committee,” it said in the governance forum on Nov. 15. “The Foundation will be working with the Risk Committee to crystallize parameters for fee switch activation by 30th November, with precise implementation mechanics to follow.” Source: CoinMarketCap Related: Wintermute to take Ethena’s USDe as trading margin In February, Ethena Labs launched an interest-earning stablecoin called USDe, which users can mint against tokens including Bitcoin (BTC), Ether (ETH), liquid staking derivatives, and other stablecoins. Ethena then hedges against the portfolio’s inherent volatility using offchain financial derivatives. USDe’s circulating supply has soared to nearly $3.2 billion since issuer Ethena Labs launched the unique stablecoin in February, according to CoinMarketCap. Launched in April, Ethena’s ENA can be staked for sENA, which, before Wintermute’s governance proposal, lacked a clear value accrual mechanism. “The Ethena Protocol has and continues to generate substantial amounts of real revenue, indicating a clear level of [product market fit] for USDe,” according to Wintermute’s Nov. 6 governance proposal. “Unfortunately, sENA does not directly benefit from this revenue, resulting in an explicit disconnect between sENA holders and the growth of the protocol,” it added. “It’s time to acknowledge this and look towards establishing clear alignment between ENA holders and the underlying fundamentals of the protocol.” On Oct. 25, Wintermute started accepting USDe as collateral for spot crypto and derivatives trades. Wintermute’s clients can now post “USDe as collateral for options, [credit default swaps], forward, and spot trading,” the company said in a post on the X platform. The stablecoin joins Wintermute’s existing roster of accepted crypto collateral, which includes BTC, ETH, Solana (SOL), and USD Coin (USDC), Wintermute said. Magazine: US enforcement agencies are turning up the heat on crypto-related crime Source link The post Ethena adopts fee-sharing proposal for ENA token first appeared on Forex Trader Hub.

By Shankar Ramakrishnan and Echo Wang (Reuters) – Elon Musk’s political ascendancy has some Wall Street banks hoping they may soon be able to offload $13 billion of debt that backed the billionaire’s purchase of the social media platform X, three banking sources said. Some of the lenders in the consortium, which included Morgan Stanley (NYSE:) and Bank of America, think Musk’s emergence as a close aide to President-elect Donald Trump could boost the prospects of X, previously known as Twitter, the sources said. If that were to happen, it would allow them to sell the debt without having to take a massive loss on the deal, the sources said.  Musk, X, Morgan Stanley and Bank of America did not immediately respond to a request for comment. typically sell such loans to investors soon after the deal is done, but in the case of X, which Musk bought for $44 billion in 2022, they have been stuck holding the debt. Musk’s sweeping changes to the platform, including laying off many people who worked to moderate content, and one of his posts on X scared away advertisers and hit revenues. That reduced the value of the debt, as the risk of default increased. In recent months, one of the sources said, some banks expected X had seen increased traffic as users flocked to the platform around big events like the U.S. elections. President-elect Donald Trump, whose account on the platform was restored by Musk after the previous management banned him in January 2021, has been regularly posting on it.  The banking sources said they wanted to see whether that and a robust U.S. economy would translate to increased revenues for the platform.  Analysts have said Musk’s ties with Trump — who put him in charge of a new government department on efficiency — could benefit the entrepreneur’s various business ventures, which range from Tesla (NASDAQ:) electric vehicles to SpaceX rockets. Tesla’s market value surpassed $1 trillion for the first time in two years in the days after the election results. The Trump campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment. DEBT VALUE It is unclear to what extent Musk’s close connection in the new administration could help revive X’s business. One of the sources said it could also further divide its user base. Newer platforms like Bluesky and Meta (NASDAQ:)’s Threads have been benefiting from user exodus from X since the election. U.S. web traffic on X reached its highest point this year on election day with 42.3 million visits, which climbed another 10% to 46.5 million visits the day after the election, according to data from web analytics company Similarweb (NYSE:). But by the weekend, X’s web traffic tapered off to more normal levels, Similarweb said. The data firm said 115,000 web users in the U.S. deactivated their X account on Nov. 6, higher than any other day since Musk took over the platform. The social media company is expected to report its latest finances to the lending consortium in the weeks after the quarter ends next month, the sources said. The banks could then decide whether they should continue holding on the debt or look to engage investors on it, the sources said. Other banks in the consortium include Barclays (LON:), Mitsubishi UFJ (NYSE:), BNP Paribas (OTC:), Mizuho (NYSE:) and Societe Generale (OTC:).  BNP and SocGen declined to comment. The other banks did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Sources have said banks have marked down the value of the debt to different degrees on their books, depending on their outlook on it.  One of the lenders is marking potential losses on the loan weekly, and had already set aside reserves to fully cover them, according to a source familiar with the situation. Attempts to sell the debt in late 2022 attracted bids which would have seen banks taking as much as a 20% loss on the face value of the debt, sources at the time said.  Instead of crystallizing those losses, banks have been holding on to the paper, the sources said. X has kept up with interest payments on the bonds, they said.  !function(f,b,e,v,n,t,s){if(f.fbq)return;n=f.fbq=function(){n.callMethod? n.callMethod.apply(n,arguments):n.queue.push(arguments)};if(!f._fbq)f._fbq=n;n.push=n;n.loaded=!0;n.version='2.0';n.queue=[];t=b.createElement(e);t.async=!0;t.src=v;s=b.getElementsByTagName(e)[0];s.parentNode.insertBefore(t,s)}(window, document,'script','https://connect.facebook.net/en_US/fbevents.js'); Source link The post Musk’s political ascendancy stirs hopes of redemption for X banks By Reuters first appeared on Forex Trader Hub.

By Utkarsh Shetti and Nathan Gomes (Reuters) – Diversified conglomerates were long a fixture of the U.S. stock market landscape, with the Dow industrials bolstered by big names such as 3M, General Electric (NYSE:), United Technologies (NYSE:) and others. But many of those companies have since broken apart, and shares of their spinoffs have surged. Activist Elliott Investment is arguing that Honeywell (NASDAQ:) should be next on the list. Post-breakup shares of companies like General Electric indeed have thrived, as firms elect to separate disparate units into smaller companies. “Breakups of conglomerates in this space have typically created significant value,” said Jake Levinson, analyst at Melius Research. Elliott’s $5 billion-plus stake in Honeywell is one of its largest single investments; it argues that shares could rise between 51% and 75% over the next two years with a breakup, a prediction some analysts felt was overly ambitious. General Electric, a venerated 132-year-old conglomerate that was once America’s most valuable company, completed a three-way split in April. Since then, GE shares – which now only reflect the aerospace unit – rose about 35%; the broad-market has gained 14.3% in that time. United Technologies, which included Otis Corp and Carrier Global (NYSE:), faced pressure to dismantle its structure from activist hedge funds. Since completing the breakup in April 2020, shares of Carrier have more than quadrupled, while Otis has more than doubled – compared with an about 80% rise in Honeywell in that period. Honeywell’s top boss Vimal Kapur is trying to turn around the company with smaller deals to build on its automation, aviation and energy businesses. However, the stock is still lagging its peers, with a 28% gain over the last five years, compared with the S&P 500’s about 91% rise. When contacted, Honeywell referred to its statement on Tuesday that said it was looking forward to engaging with Elliott. A group of 12 industrial spin-offs gained about 50% in the year following their spinoffs, outperforming the Industrial Select Sector SPDR Fund by nearly 27%, according to RBC Capital Markets data. More broadly, the evidence is mixed. Invesco’s Spin-off ETF, a fund that tracks S&P 500 companies that have spun out from larger corporations, has trailed the market over the last decade. The ETF has risen nearly 90%, while the broader market has nearly tripled. THE HONEYWELL QUESTION In Elliott’s letter on Tuesday, it argued that Honeywell is weighed down by uneven execution and inconsistent financial results owing to its conglomerate structure and called for the company to “embrace simplification.” Weakness in one segment can dent the profits of a larger company. Honeywell has been grappling with sparse demand in its industrial automation business, offsetting growth in its aerospace segment. “Honeywell appears to be overly diversified. It is difficult to argue there are sufficient synergies between cutting-edge aerospace research and residential fire safety products to justify keeping them under one company,” said David Halliday, associate professor of strategic management at George Washington University. Halliday, however, said that he did not share Elliott’s optimism on projected valuations, arguing that efficiency gains from a spinoff would take years to materialize. “Honeywell is not exactly undervalued by market standards. Honeywell’s current P/E ratio of 27 is a bit shy of the market average of 30,” Halliday added. In 2017, Honeywell managed to shrug off Daniel Loeb’s Third Point, which urged it to spin off its aerospace division, though it did spin off two smaller businesses. Honeywell is currently worth about $150 billion, but it could be worth as much as $300 per share “conservatively” by 2026 in the event of a spinoff, said Tony Bancroft, portfolio manager at Gabelli Funds, which holds Honeywell’s shares. That equation would give it a valuation of about $195 billion. “Both the automation and aerospace industries have huge addressable markets and it’s now up to Honeywell management to decide how much they value Elliot Management’s advice and whether or not it’s best to attack the opportunity as one company, or two,” said Paul Marino of Themes ETFs, an asset-management firm. !function(f,b,e,v,n,t,s){if(f.fbq)return;n=f.fbq=function(){n.callMethod? n.callMethod.apply(n,arguments):n.queue.push(arguments)};if(!f._fbq)f._fbq=n;n.push=n;n.loaded=!0;n.version='2.0';n.queue=[];t=b.createElement(e);t.async=!0;t.src=v;s=b.getElementsByTagName(e)[0];s.parentNode.insertBefore(t,s)}(window, document,'script','https://connect.facebook.net/en_US/fbevents.js'); Source link The post would a split pay off? By Reuters first appeared on Forex Trader Hub.

(Reuters) – General Motors (NYSE:) is laying off nearly 1,000 workers worldwide, most in the U.S., as it looks to streamline operations, a source told Reuters on Friday. GM confirmed in a statement it had made job cuts. “In order to win in this competitive market, we need to optimize for speed and excellence,” the Detroit automaker said. “As part of this continuous effort, we’ve made a small number of team reductions.” !function(f,b,e,v,n,t,s){if(f.fbq)return;n=f.fbq=function(){n.callMethod? n.callMethod.apply(n,arguments):n.queue.push(arguments)};if(!f._fbq)f._fbq=n;n.push=n;n.loaded=!0;n.version='2.0';n.queue=[];t=b.createElement(e);t.async=!0;t.src=v;s=b.getElementsByTagName(e)[0];s.parentNode.insertBefore(t,s)}(window, document,'script','https://connect.facebook.net/en_US/fbevents.js'); Source link The post GM laying off nearly 1,000 workers, most in US, source says By Reuters first appeared on Forex Trader Hub.

By David Shepardson WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The U.S. Commerce Department said Friday it has finalized a $6.6 billion government subsidy for Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co’s U.S. unit for semiconductor production in Phoenix, Arizona. The binding contract – after a preliminary agreement announced in April – is the first major award to be completed under the $52.7 billion program created in 2022. It comes just weeks before President-elect Donald Trump, who criticized the program, takes office. In April, TSMC agreed to expand its planned investment by $25 billion to $65 billion and to add a third Arizona fab by 2030. The Taiwanese company will produce the world’s most advanced 2 nanometer technology at its second Arizona fab expected to begin production in 2028. TSMC also agreed to use its most advanced chip manufacturing technology called “A16” in Arizona. “When we started this there were a lot of naysayers who said maybe TSMC will do 5 or 6 nanometer in the United States,” Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo said in an interview. “Actually they are doing their most sophisticated chips in the United States.” The TSMC award also includes up to $5 billion in low-cost government loans. Under the agreement, TSMC will receive cash as it meets project milestones. Commerce expects to release at least $1 billion to TSMC by year end, a senior official told reporters. TSMC agreed to forgo stock buybacks for five years – subject to some exceptions – and share any excess profits with the U.S. government under an “upside sharing agreement.” TSMC CEO C.C. Wei said in a statement the deal “helps us to accelerate the development of the most advanced semiconductor manufacturing technology available in the U.S.” Congress in 2022 approved the Chips and Science Act to boost domestic semiconductor output, which Raimondo called essential to getting TSMC and other chips investment. No leading edge chips are currently produced in the United States. “It didn’t happen on its own… We had to convince TSMC that they would want to expand,” Raimondo said, adding officials also had to convince American companies to buy U.S. made chips. “The market does not price in national security.” Commerce has allocated $36 billion for chips projects including $6.4 billion for Samsung (KS:) in Texas, $8.5 billion for Intel (NASDAQ:) and $6.1 billion for Micron Technology (NASDAQ:). Commerce is working to finalize those agreements before Biden leaves office on Jan. 20. Reuters reported on Saturday Commerce ordered TSMC to halt shipments of advanced chips to Chinese customers. Raimondo did not confirm the department issued a directive to TSMC but said the United States needs to play offense and defense with China. “Investing in TSMC to expand here is offense – defense is making sure that neither TSMC nor any other company sells our most sophisticated technology to China and violates our export controls,” Raimondo said, adding she was not saying TSMC had committed any violations. “We take national security seriously and we look into every potential problem, whether it’s with companies we subsidize or not,” she added. !function(f,b,e,v,n,t,s){if(f.fbq)return;n=f.fbq=function(){n.callMethod? n.callMethod.apply(n,arguments):n.queue.push(arguments)};if(!f._fbq)f._fbq=n;n.push=n;n.loaded=!0;n.version='2.0';n.queue=[];t=b.createElement(e);t.async=!0;t.src=v;s=b.getElementsByTagName(e)[0];s.parentNode.insertBefore(t,s)}(window, document,'script','https://connect.facebook.net/en_US/fbevents.js'); Source link The post US finalizes $6.6 billion chips award for TSMC ahead of Trump return By Reuters first appeared on Forex Trader Hub.

By Jennifer Rigby LONDON (Reuters) – Global health advocates have written to the makers of a key mpox diagnostic test to call for its price to be cut from around $20 per test to $5, to help tackle low testing rates in poorer countries badly hit by the virus. Medical (TASE:) diagnostics firm Cepheid’s GeneXpert mpox test is one of three approved for emergency use by the World Health Organization, but the price is prohibitive for countries like the hardest-hit Democratic Republic of Congo, activists said. Mpox was declared a global public health emergency by the WHO this summer, when an outbreak in Congo began to spread to neighbouring countries. The virus typically causes flu-like symptoms and pus-filled lesions and can kill. This week, WHO said cases in Africa showed a “general rising trend” although they may be levelling off in parts of Congo. But a lack of tests is hindering the capacity to confirm cases, particularly in Congo, one of the world’s poorest countries. “We urge you to lower the price of the mpox test cartridges to $5 and prioritize supply for African countries fighting mpox outbreaks,” read the letter sent by groups including rights NGO Public Citizen and medical charity Medecins Sans Frontieres. Cepheid’s test is particularly important because machines that process the results are available across Africa, as they are also used for tuberculosis testing. Danaher (NYSE:), the parent company of Cepheid, reduced its TB test prices to $7.97 last year after pressure from activists. The companies did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The $5 price tag proposed by advocates is based on research showing that the tests can be produced for less than that. Public Citizen’s access to medicines director Peter Maybarduk said the recent WHO approval was an opportunity to ramp up testing. “Lower prices would help health agencies meet the moment,” he said. !function(f,b,e,v,n,t,s){if(f.fbq)return;n=f.fbq=function(){n.callMethod? n.callMethod.apply(n,arguments):n.queue.push(arguments)};if(!f._fbq)f._fbq=n;n.push=n;n.loaded=!0;n.version='2.0';n.queue=[];t=b.createElement(e);t.async=!0;t.src=v;s=b.getElementsByTagName(e)[0];s.parentNode.insertBefore(t,s)}(window, document,'script','https://connect.facebook.net/en_US/fbevents.js'); Source link The post Health advocates press Cepheid for cheaper mpox tests By Reuters first appeared on Forex Trader Hub.

By Eduardo Baptista, Marco Aquino, Lucinda Elliott LIMA (Reuters) -Chinese President Xi Jinping launched a week-long diplomatic blitz of South America on Thursday by inaugurating a massive deep-water port in Peru, a $1.3 billion investment by Beijing as it seeks to expand trade and influence on the continent. With China’s demand for agricultural goods and metals from Latin America growing, Xi will participate in the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit  in Lima then head to the Group of 20 summit in Rio de Janeiro next week, where he will also make a state visit to Brazil. Xi and Peruvian President Dina Boluarte participated on Thursday by video link in the opening of the Chancay port, about 80 kilometres (48 miles) north of Lima on the Pacific Ocean, and signed a deal to widen an existing free trade agreement. Xi said that Chancay, a 15-berth, deep-water port, was the successful start of a “21st century maritime Silk Road” and part of China’s Belt and Road Initiative, its modern revival of the ancient Silk Road trading route.  “China is willing to work with the Peruvian side to take the Chancay project as a starting point to forge a new maritime-land corridor between China and Latin America and connect the Great Inca Trail,” Xi said, referring to a 15th century mountain network that joined the Inca empire. In an opinion article in the El Peruano state newspaper, Xi said the Chancay project would generate $4.5 billion in annual revenues, create more than 8,000 direct jobs and reduce the logistics costs of the Peru-China route by 20%. The China-controlled megaport was built by Cosco Shipping Ports and received $1.3 billion in Chinese investment for its first phase. China is expected to spend billions more as Beijing and Lima work to position it as a major shipping hub between Asia and South America. The first ship was due to set sail from Chancay next week, transporting Peruvian fruit to China, Mario Ocharan, Peruvian director of the Chancay Chamber of Commerce, said.  China’s main motivation for developing the megaport, according to Ocharan, was access to neighboring Brazil, where a new railway line is planned to carry Brazilian exports such as soybeans and iron ore to the port.  The rail project is estimated to cost $3.5 billion, according to Mario de las Casas, corporate affairs manager at Cosco Shipping Chancay Peru. Building that link is “crucial” to improve transportation of soybeans as Brazil is the top seller of the commodity to China, he said. GEOPOLITICAL AND ECONOMIC HEADWINDS The inauguration of the port comes as Beijing is looking to further tap into resource-rich Latin America, amid trade tensions with Europe and concerns about future U.S. tariffs on Chinese exports from the incoming Trump administration.  Hundreds of Chinese business executives have accompanied Xi on this trip including heads of companies heavily invested in Peru such as Chinalco, which owns the Toromocho mine. Robert Evan Ellis, Latin America research professor at the U.S. Army War College, said that Chancay will make shipping between Latin America and China more efficient. Because the port can handle the biggest ships, it will reduce the need for shippers to consolidate cargo containers at intermediary points, reducing costs and handling times.  “Chancay illustrates how China seeks secure access to resources and markets and its ever more successful fight to corner global value added,” Ellis said. China’s major investment in Chancay has raised alarm bells in Washington. General Laura Richardson, former U.S. Southern Command chief, warned earlier this month that Chancay could be used by the Chinese navy and for intelligence-gathering. U.S. anxieties about Chancay reflect a broader, decades-long shift in a region Washington long saw as its backyard. China has overtaken the United States to become the largest trading partner of countries like Peru.  China’s state-backed Global Times wrote in an editorial on Monday that the port was “by no means a tool for geopolitical competition”, calling U.S. accusations of the port’s potential military use “smears”. !function(f,b,e,v,n,t,s){if(f.fbq)return;n=f.fbq=function(){n.callMethod? n.callMethod.apply(n,arguments):n.queue.push(arguments)};if(!f._fbq)f._fbq=n;n.push=n;n.loaded=!0;n.version='2.0';n.queue=[];t=b.createElement(e);t.async=!0;t.src=v;s=b.getElementsByTagName(e)[0];s.parentNode.insertBefore(t,s)}(window, document,'script','https://connect.facebook.net/en_US/fbevents.js'); Source link The post Starting Latin America trip, Xi Jinping opens huge port in Peru funded by China By Reuters first appeared on Forex Trader Hub.

EUR/USD continues to decline as the Euro deflates. Fiber found a 57-week low as the Greenback continues to climb. US Retail Sales in the barrel for Friday will wrap up the economic calendar. EUR/USD briefly tested fresh year-long lows on Thursday, piercing the 1.0500 handle for the first time in 54 weeks. A lack of meaningful EU data is doing very little to provide support for the Euro, and Fiber bids continue to tilt in favor of the safe haven US Dollar. European Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth figures failed to spark a bid under the Euro, printing exactly at-expectations. Quarterly pan-EU GDP came in at 0.4% QoQ exactly as markets expected, with annualized GDP also matching forecasts at 0.9% YoY. Producer Price Index (PPI) producer-level inflation figures came in roughly as expected, despite a slight upswing in annualized core PPI numbers. Headline PPI matched forecasts in October, rising 0.2% MoM compared to the previous month’s revised 0.1%. Core PPI for the year ended in October accelerated more than expected, ticking up to 3.1% compared to the expected 3.0% rising above the previous period’s 2.9%, which was also revised slightly higher from 2.8%. The economic calendar is once again one-sided on Friday, with US Retail Sales in the barrel to wrap up the trading week. The last blast of US economic data this week will be Retail Sales for October, which are expected to ease to 0.3% from the previous month’s 0.4%. EUR/USD price forecast The EUR/USD daily chart is displaying sustained bearish momentum, with the pair sharply falling below the 50-day and 200-day Exponential Moving Averages (EMAs), which are positioned around 1.0867 and 1.0884, respectively. The recent “death cross,” where the 50-day EMA crossed below the 200-day EMA, reinforces the downside pressure and suggests a continuation of the prevailing downtrend. EUR/USD is now trading near multi-month lows around the 1.0520 level, which could act as a psychological support in the short term. However, any recovery is likely to face strong resistance around the 1.0700 level, where the EMAs converge. The MACD indicator further supports the bearish outlook, as the MACD line remains below the signal line in negative territory, with expanding histogram bars below the zero line. This configuration indicates a robust downward trend, with selling momentum persisting. Unless the pair manages to stage a clear breakout above the EMAs, the bias remains firmly to the downside. A break below the 1.0500 level could open the door for a deeper decline, with 1.0400 emerging as the next potential support area. Bulls would need a decisive recovery above the 1.0880 mark to negate the bearish bias. EUR/USD daily chart Euro FAQs The Euro is the currency for the 19 European Union countries that belong to the Eurozone. It is the second most heavily traded currency in the world behind the US Dollar. In 2022, it accounted for 31% of all foreign exchange transactions, with an average daily turnover of over $2.2 trillion a day. EUR/USD is the most heavily traded currency pair in the world, accounting for an estimated 30% off all transactions, followed by EUR/JPY (4%), EUR/GBP (3%) and EUR/AUD (2%). The European Central Bank (ECB) in Frankfurt, Germany, is the reserve bank for the Eurozone. The ECB sets interest rates and manages monetary policy. The ECB’s primary mandate is to maintain price stability, which means either controlling inflation or stimulating growth. Its primary tool is the raising or lowering of interest rates. Relatively high interest rates – or the expectation of higher rates – will usually benefit the Euro and vice versa. The ECB Governing Council makes monetary policy decisions at meetings held eight times a year. Decisions are made by heads of the Eurozone national banks and six permanent members, including the President of the ECB, Christine Lagarde. Eurozone inflation data, measured by the Harmonized Index of Consumer Prices (HICP), is an important econometric for the Euro. If inflation rises more than expected, especially if above the ECB’s 2% target, it obliges the ECB to raise interest rates to bring it back under control. Relatively high interest rates compared to its counterparts will usually benefit the Euro, as it makes the region more attractive as a place for global investors to park their money. Data releases gauge the health of the economy and can impact on the Euro. Indicators such as GDP, Manufacturing and Services PMIs, employment, and consumer sentiment surveys can all influence the direction of the single currency. A strong economy is good for the Euro. Not only does it attract more foreign investment but it may encourage the ECB to put up interest rates, which will directly strengthen the Euro. Otherwise, if economic data is weak, the Euro is likely to fall. Economic data for the four largest economies in the euro area (Germany, France, Italy and Spain) are especially significant, as they account for 75% of the Eurozone’s economy. Another significant data release for the Euro is the Trade Balance. This indicator measures the difference between what a country earns from its exports and what it spends on imports over a given period. If a country produces highly sought after exports then its currency will gain in value purely from the extra demand created from foreign buyers seeking to purchase these goods. Therefore, a positive net Trade Balance strengthens a currency and vice versa for a negative balance.   Source link The post EUR/USD taps 1.05 for the first time in over a year first appeared on Forex Trader Hub.

The ongoing legal battles between crypto firms and the United States securities regulator will likely fade away with Donald Trump reelected as the 47th president of the United States, Consensys CEO Joe Lubin said. “So my guess is, in a way that is not embarrassing, they figure out ways to get the cases dismissed or settled, or something like that,” Lubin told Cointelegraph at DevCon 2024 in Thailand.  Joe Lubin sits down with Cointelegraph’s Andrew Fenton. Source: Cointelegraph “Maybe not all the cases, maybe not all elements of the case, but I have a feeling that our industry is going to save hundreds of millions of dollars going forward,” he said. Lubin’s comments came after Trump won the presidential election on Nov. 5. Trump’s win was applauded by the crypto industry due to several pro-crypto promises he made throughout his election campaign.  One promise in particular was to “fire” the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) chair and crypto critic Gary Gensler on day one. There is also growing optimism that Trump will fill his cabinet with “pro-crypto” individuals. Trump is ‘moving aggressively’ “I think the Trump transition team is already moving aggressively,” he said. “Trump is a pretty good politician,” Lubin declared before adding, “Whatever you say about him, he picks up on the zeitgeist and runs with it.” This is a significant win for the crypto industry, especially within the US, as the SEC has been locked in ongoing legal battles with major crypto exchanges, including Binance and Coinbase, along with a back-and-forth case against Ripple since December 2020. Lubin touched on Consensys’ filing a lawsuit against the SEC and its five commissioners in April over claims the regulator planned to regulate ETH as a security. Consensys lawsuit ‘lit a fire,’ Lubin says “I think our lawsuit lit a fire. That fire was picked up by law,” he said. In the filing, Consensys alleged the SEC had orchestrated a campaign “to seize control over the future of cryptocurrency” with enforcement actions aimed at regulating Ether as a security.  Lubin said the SEC was attempting to argue that Ethereum 2.0 is different from the “old” Ether: “I think what they were trying to do was say, Ether under Ethereum 2.0 is a different thing than Ether, and also that old Ether, fine, whatever Bill Hinman said, We don’t care. Call it a commodity, but this new Ether is obviously a security.” On Sept. 19, a Texas federal judge dismissed Consensys’ lawsuit against the SEC and its five commissioners.  Related: Crypto firms push for SEC changes, crypto out of courts A separate case brought on by the SEC against Consensys shortly after the initial filing is still ongoing.  The SEC alleged that the company has been operating as an unregistered broker and engaging in the unregistered offer and sale of securities through MetaMask Swaps. Recently, Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong said the next chair of the SEC should apologize to Americans for the agency’s damage to the crypto space.  Magazine: Off The Grid’s success shows ‘invisible’ blockchain is the winning play Source link The post SEC crypto cases will be ‘dismissed or settled’ under Trump: Consensys CEO first appeared on Forex Trader Hub.

By Dietrich Knauth and Katie Paul NEW YORK (Reuters) -Like a headline lifted from the Onion, the parody news website is buying conspiracy theorist Alex Jones’ Infowars in a bankruptcy auction.  The Onion said in a statement on Thursday it aims to replace Infowars’ “relentless barrage of disinformation” with the Onion’s “noticeably less hateful disinformation.”  Financial terms of the purchase were not disclosed. Infowars’ website was shut down on Thursday and the Onion said it aimed to relaunch the platform in January. The purchase marks a sharp turn for Infowars, one of the internet’s most notorious purveyors of right-wing conspiracy content and misleadingly marketed dietary supplements. Founded in 1999, it became a prime example of how online media platforms could exploit tech companies’ hands-off approach to moderating content and disseminate evidence-free claims to vast audiences. Among those theories were false claims that the Sept. 11 attacks on New York and Washington and the 2012 mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut were staged. The Onion, led by a CEO who spent years covering online disinformation and extremism as an NBC News reporter, had the backing of several families of Sandy Hook shooting victims for its bid. It will acquire Infowars’ intellectual property, including its website, customer lists and inventory, certain social media accounts and the Infowars production equipment, the families said. Jones filed for bankruptcy protection in 2022 after courts ordered him to pay $1.5 billion for defaming the families of 20 students and six staff members killed in the Sandy Hook shooting. Unable to pay those legal judgments, Jones was forced to auction his assets, including Infowars, in bankruptcy. The Connecticut families of eight victims of the school shooting backed the Onion’s bid, saying it would put “an end to the misinformation machine” that Jones operated.    “The Onion is proud to acquire Infowars, and we look forward to continuing its storied tradition of scaring the site’s users with lies until they fork over their cold, hard cash,” the Onion CEO Ben Collins said in a statement.  Everytown for Gun Safety, the largest U.S. gun-violence-prevention organization, said it will serve as the exclusive advertiser on the new Infowars.  FAMILIES BACKED ONION BID A court-supervised auction concluded on Wednesday. The Connecticut families said they agreed to forgo some payment from the defamation judgments to boost the Onion’s bid and prevent other right-wing content creators from continuing to broadcast conspiracy theories on Infowars.  “The world needs to see that having a platform does not mean you are above accountability,” said Robbie Parker, whose daughter Emilie was killed in the Sandy Hook shooting. “The dissolution of Alex Jones’ assets and the death of Infowars is the justice we have long awaited and fought for.”  The second-highest bid was submitted by First United American Companies, which is associated with Jones, according to court documents. “They’re shutting us down,” Jones said on social media site X. “I’m going to be here until they come in here and turn the lights off.” Jones said he would continue broadcasting on other platforms and resist what he said were politically motivated efforts to silence him, although his options beyond X are limited. Most mainstream social-media companies and podcast distributors, including Apple (NASDAQ:), Alphabet (NASDAQ:)’s YouTube, and Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:)’ Facebook, banned Jones and Infowars about five years ago, saying they had violated the services’ rules. X was among them at the time, but owner Elon Musk reinstated Jones last year after acquiring the company. Jones claimed for years that the massacre at Sandy Hook was a hoax staged with actors as part of a government plot to seize Americans’ guns. He has since acknowledged the shooting occurred, but the families, who said Jones cashed in for years off his lies, sued him for defamation.  Courts in Connecticut and Texas have ruled that Jones intentionally defamed the families. A U.S. bankruptcy judge previously ruled that those legal judgments could not be legally discharged in bankruptcy, meaning that Jones remains on the hook for most of the judgments even after Infowars was sold. !function(f,b,e,v,n,t,s){if(f.fbq)return;n=f.fbq=function(){n.callMethod? n.callMethod.apply(n,arguments):n.queue.push(arguments)};if(!f._fbq)f._fbq=n;n.push=n;n.loaded=!0;n.version='2.0';n.queue=[];t=b.createElement(e);t.async=!0;t.src=v;s=b.getElementsByTagName(e)[0];s.parentNode.insertBefore(t,s)}(window, document,'script','https://connect.facebook.net/en_US/fbevents.js'); Source link The post the Onion parody website buys Alex Jones’ Infowars out of bankruptcy By Reuters first appeared on Forex Trader Hub.